This invention relates in general to an impact liner against which a stream of granular material may be directed for building up a renewable wear surface, and more particularly to an impact liner of elastomeric material having a plurality of pockets for accumulating granular material to define a renewable wear surface.
In many industrial installations, including coal mines, power stations, concrete mixing plants, and many others, it is necessary or desirable to move appreciable quantities of granular material from one location to another. For example, in a coal mine quantities of granular coal may need to be moved, often in two or more steps, from a mine face to a storage location for subsequent shipment to a coal consumer. In a power station utilizing granular coal for fuel, the coal is often initially stored at a site separate from the power generating installation and is subsequently delivered to that installation as needed. Similarly, the ash or other waste product produced by burning of coal may require removal from the power generation facility to yet another separate location. In a concrete mixing plant a granular stone aggregate may be initially stored at a location remote from the mixing plant; in such an installation, the aggregate may be moved to the mixing plant when it is needed.
In these and many other industrial facilities a conveyor, usually a belt conveyor, is employed to transport the granular material (e.g., coal, granular stone aggregate, etc.) to or from the location at which it is utilized. Most such conveyors have an input chute for delivering the granular material to the conveyor and a discharge chute for discharge of the granular material at the output end of the conveyor. In either case, the chute often includes one or more impact surfaces on which the granular material impinges. Those impact surfaces are often subject to appreciable abrasion from the granular material, and hence present a continuing requirement for repair and/or replacement of the chute.
Further, in the sizing of granular material such as coal, screen deck systems in a granule sizing machine or classification machine are used for receiving and sizing the coal. These screens are generally angularly disposed to receive a stream of coal or granular material from the discharge end of a conveyor. A screen impact surface for receiving the stream of coal or granular material is usually at the input end of the first or uppermost screen. Wear on the impact surface requires periodic replacement or repair of the screen.
Liners of elastomeric material for conveyer chutes and screen decks have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,041,906 and 6,250,450 that are owned by the assignee of interest in this application, Arch Environmental Equipment, Inc. of Paducah, Ky. These prior art liners include a base having upstanding therefrom a plurality of knobs or protrusions in spaced relation such as to allow accumulation of granular material and to define a renewable wear surface. However, these liners are not capable of accumulating and trapping larger sized granular particles to form a renewable wear surface.
The impact liner of the present invention is in the form of a molded elastomeric member having a base plate and upstanding therefrom interconnecting walls defining pockets that are capable of accumulating larger sized granular particles.
The pockets may be of any suitable shape and size but preferably of such size to be capable of trapping and accumulating larger sized granular material on the order of 2xc2xd to 3xc2xd inches. When the granular material is accumulated, it then defines a renewable wear surface for the impact surface or member to enhance the life of the member. Thus, the impact liner of the present invention may be used wherever a stream of granular material is formed and impacting against a surface to eliminate the wear on that surface.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an impact liner for an impact surface of a conveyer chute or screen deck that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and which is capable of accumulating granular material of any suitable size to provide a renewable wear surface.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an impact liner of elastomeric material with a plurality of pockets facing a stream of granular material to provide a renewable wear surface.